


Rumination

by Anonymous



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22912276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: This topic wasn’t anything new. They had talked about this many, many times before.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

Rei had decided to stay the night at school instead of going home. Tonight, his parents would be home and he didn’t have the energy to deal with them. It’s not like his parents would notice he was missing and his coffin was just as comfortable as his bed at home anyways. 

As he bent over to open said coffin, he ran a hand over a crack in the lid. Ritsu and Doggy had thought it would be funny and cute if they locked him inside his coffin. Their little prank _was_ incredibly cute but Rei still freaked out, unbeknownst to them. Unfortunately, he broke the lid in his panic to get out. 

Rei set the lid aside and paused. Fortunately, he had Madara to fix it.

In fact, Madara had promised to fix the lid sometime later in the week. He had apologized for not being able to fix it sooner but Rei didn’t mind. He lowered himself in to the coffin.

Comfortably settled, without the lid, Rei closed his eyes and tried to sleep. Lately, he found himself being more tired than usual. It seemed that he was so tired that he was now able to sleep through the whole night in addition to his naps during the day. 

Just as he was drifting off, Rei heard the door open. He thought he had locked it. Propping himself up on his elbow, he peered over at the intruder. 

Surprisingly, it was the person he had been thinking of. Madara. 

And apparently he was just just as surprised as Rei was. 

"Huh? What are you doing here?" Madara asked, replacing his surprised expression with a beaming smile. He was very happy to see Rei. 

"I should be asking you the same thing. I thought you said you wouldn’t be visiting until later in the week." Rei replied. 

"I thought I’d just fix your coffin real quick after practice so you wouldn’t have to wait so long." Madara eyed the lid laying on the floor and walked towards it. "So why are _you_ still here? Your club wasn’t on today’s schedule." He sat on the floor next to Rei and examined the break in the lid before opening his bag. 

"You are correct. We didn’t have a club meeting today. I simply didn’t want to go home tonight. That’s all." Rei replied airily. 

Madara paused for a moment from looking in his bag and turned his attention to Rei. 

Rei felt a sense of déjà vu. 

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Madara said in a serious tone as he finally pulled a sanding tool from his bag. 

Rei glanced warily at Madara, "Oh, Mikejima-kun..." He glanced away, "Please, don’t act like that. There’s nothing to say." There was, but he would never admit it. Especially not to Madara.

Previous task forgotten, Madara tilted his head as if he was some sort of stupid, confused puppy. The word 'cute' also flashed through Rei’s mind but he quickly pushed that thought aside. The last thing he wanted was unnecessary feelings for someone that constantly exhausted him (someone that would eventually forget him when his time inevitably ran out).

Madara replied with a teasing smile, "Doesn’t seem like nothin’ to me." He playfully pointed his sanding tool at Rei.

It _seemed_ that Madara never knew when to give up. It was one of the many things that Rei had grown tired of (it was one of the many things that Rei held onto like a lifeline). He picked at a loose thread on his sweater, uncomfortable. It annoyed him when Madara tried to pry. Why couldn’t he just accept Rei at face value like everyone else? Despite trying to help him feel better, he just made Rei feel worse.

With barely contained annoyance, Rei gave Madara a pointed look, "I may be an old man, but—"

"Just stop with the old man thing already. Why can’t you let yourself depend on someone else, on _me_ , for once? I wanna be here for you." Madara’s voice had taken on that serious tone again.

This topic wasn’t anything new. They had talked about this many, many times before.

Rei closed his eyes in frustration. His shoulders tensed as he responded, "Madara, I don’t really want to talk about this right now." He almost regretted his decision to stay at school instead of going home. Almost. But even being confronted by Madara was preferable to the alternative.

For a moment, Madara said nothing. Rei was caught between disappointment and relief until Madara finally spoke up.

"Why did you...?" His voice was filled with shock. "Rei, are you _really_ okay?" 

Rei instantly felt sick.

He had made a mistake. Madara wasn’t _Madara_. He hadn’t been Madara in a very long time. He was Mikejima-kun now, but Rei had fucked up. 

Now Madara would think he’s crazy too.

Tired and feeling cornered, the walls he had built up crumbled. "You wouldn’t understand if I told you. You’d never do. You say you understand but I know you don’t. Why can’t you just pretend like nothing’s wrong like everyone?!" 

His eyes were glassy and red, like he was about to cry. 

Madara was, for once, at a loss for words. What was Rei talking about? He always hoped that Rei would open up to him but he never expected that he would see him so vulnerable. He was utterly confused and his chest filled with a sinking feeling. 

Without much thought, Madara did the first thing that came to mind. Abandoning his task, he leant over and hugged Rei.

"I don’t know what you’re dealing with but I’m sorry." He placed his head on Rei’s shoulder as he apologized for something that wasn’t directly his fault. Rei stiffened. Why did he always have to be so kind him? 

Being hugged by Madara reminded him of moments that didn’t exist anymore. He desperately wanted to return the embrace but hastily reminded himself that none of it was real.

Madara broke the hug and leant back to look Rei directly in the face. "Just tell me when you’re ready, okay? Like I said, I wanna be here for you. Even if I don’t completely understand." Madara said as he reached out and slowly swiped his thumb underneath Rei’s eye. 

Madara grinned, his eyes crinkling with joy, when Rei placed his hand over his.

"I’m always the one that comes over to your place, but I don’t mind if you come over to mine.” Madara offered before he continued with an even bigger smile. "From now on, my place is your place. You called me by my given name after all." Madara was practically vibrating with energy. He was pushing boundaries again but it was obvious that he couldn’t help himself.

Rei sighed.

"Maybe another time." He replied, ignoring the comment about Madara’s given name.

Madara hummed in acknowledgement. Maybe wasn’t a 'yes' but it wasn’t a 'no' either. He’d ask another time then.

Rei lied back down, head resting on his pillow. "If you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep."

"Oh! Go ahead. You look exhausted." Madara replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He picked up the sanding tool that he had dropped.

The last thing Rei saw before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep was Madara sanding down the coffin lid with a focused look on his face.

It seemed he truly enjoyed fixing broken things.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei and Kanata take a stroll on the beach.

"You were “right”, Rei. The beach is “pretty” at night too.~" Shoes in hand, Kanata and Rei walked together along the moonlit shore. The waves continuously crashed ashore, washing over their feet each time the water rolled in. It was a clear night.

Rei shot the other teen a confused look. "When exactly did I say that?" He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to the beach but he knew that this was definitely his first time visiting at night. Surely, Kanata was mistaken? Perhaps he was confusing him with someone else.

Kanata giggled at Rei’s confused expression and reached over to poke him in the forehead. Maybe Rei really did have an “elderly person brain”. His memory was pretty pitiful right now.

"You said “it” in the “letter” you sent me.~" He replied. "Don’t you “remember”?"

"I sent you a letter?" Rei’s confusion only deepened and Kanata’s closed-lip smile widened. Gazing at his gentle smile, Rei’s mind was flooded with images of trees snapped in half, unable to withstand the winds and rains that pelted them. 

"Mhm.~" Kanata slowly shook his head in confirmation, offering no further elaboration. Oddly enough, Rei didn’t feel concerned enough to ask more about the letter that he had supposedly sent. It didn’t really matter anyways.

Laughing in glee, Kanata lazily kicked up a pile of seaweed as they continued to walk the shoreline. It scattered everywhere and he looked pleased. 

Without any particular destination in mind, they continued walking. It felt like they had been there for hours, yet the full moon had barely moved from its place in the sky. Rei realized he was no longer holding his shoes. 

Why were they at the beach again?

He blinked and looked around, realizing that they were no longer walking on the beach. They were surrounded by ankle-high water on all sides, a shallow ocean that went on indefinitely in every direction. 

It was truly bizarre. 

When had they gotten so far from the shore? Rei couldn’t remember ever stepping off the beach but surely, they must have at some point. For a moment, Rei wondered if they were lost, but Kanata didn’t seem worried at all. It made sense that he wouldn’t be worried. Kanata loved water. 

Or was it another person that loved water? And wind, and rain, and childish destruction. A name was at the edges of his mind. He tried to picture a face but it was like trying to look at someone through a distorted lens. He could see shapes and colors but it barely made sense. He saw unbridled power and mischief along with the semblance of a closed-lip smile. It was just like—

Pulling Rei’s attention from his thoughts, Kanata abruptly stopped walking and sat in the ocean. He scooped up handfuls of sand and let it fall through his fingers back into the salty water. He looked up at Rei with a pleased look on his face. "I really like this “world”~" Kanata said as he motioned for Rei to sit, trying to pat the water as if it were the ground. "Sit “down” with me. I want to “tell” you “something”."

Rei hesitantly looked between Kanata and the water but still moved to sit down. He didn’t particularly want to sit in water but did it anyways because Kanata asked. Lowering himself, he tried not to cringe as his pants got soaked. Rei wondered why he didn’t bring swim trunks to change into, but couldn’t remember if he actually owned any.

"So, what is it that you have to tell me?" Rei asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity. His voice sounded hollow, his throat was sore, almost as if it was weak from disuse. He didn’t (couldn’t) give it much thought.

Kanata had a mischievous look on his face like he was about to share a secret that he wasn’t supposed to share. That look was familiar.

A vision of destroyed farmland and rice-fields flickered through Rei’s mind.

Kanata leaned in close. "I’m glad you killed her." He whispered, distinct lackadaisical quality absent from his voice. The speed of his voice was _normal._

It was odd. 

Rei almost couldn’t find the words he needed. Physically and mentally, communication was alluding him. He furrowed his brows as he gathered himself enough to reply, "What are..." His voice died so he tried again. "What are you talking about? I would never kill another human being." He spoke slowly, stumbling over each word. He felt sick. 

"H– mmmmmm, you’re still in denial, huh?" Kanata skimmed his hand over the top of the water and raised it to flick water at Rei. There was a pause, as if Kanata was waiting for him to speak. Rei opened and closed his mouth but the words wouldn’t come out. Kanata laughed out, then made a thoughtful expression.

"Did I ever “thank” you for making “him” forget about what I did? Now he’s “mad” at _you_ “instead” of me. You’re really the best, “Rei”~." 

What was Kanata saying? Rei couldn’t quite grasp the words in his head. He couldn’t focus. Closing his eyes, he saw an empty room with a broken weaving loom in the center. It was just a pile of wood and string now.

What happened to the owner of the broken loom? Rei felt like he might already know the answer but he couldn’t quite remember it.

He opened his eyes. In the distance, the sun was beginning to rise over the water. The moon was nowhere to be seen.

Kanata frowned as Rei intently watched the sun rise.

"“Time” is up" Kanata said as he half-heartedly splashed water at Rei. He seemed more subdued now. "I’m sorry I couldn’t “give” you a longer “break”." A strong wind blew and began to kick up waves. Kanata sighed. "It’s time for “you” to go “back”. 

Rei tried to reply but only managed to make an unintelligible string of words. Kanata shot him a look of pity and gently picked up his hand to hold it.

"I’m “sorry”." His voice almost sounded shaky. Why was he sorry? Rei wondered what the other teen’s name was. He looked at where their hands were connected underneath the clear, stomach-high water.

Rei’s stomach dropped as he realized the ocean had risen and they were now more submerged than they had been before. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. The water continued to rise. 

Letting go of the hand in his grasp, the unfamiliar teen grabbed Rei’s shoulders. He looked into Rei’s eyes with a blank expression before shoving him underneath the waves. Somehow the water became deeper and they sank. 

Rei could barely comprehend what was happening. He tried to fight back as hard as he could, but it was useless. The other teen was stronger and they sank. 

Time seemed to pass painfully slow. 

Rei became dizzy. 

He was terrified. 

He didn’t want to die. 

They only sank deeper. 

Unable to hold his breathe any longer, Rei gasped in desperation. Salt water filled his lungs. His chest burned, his heart hammered, he couldn’t _think_. He had never felt this kind of fear before and everything hurt. He knew he couldn’t free himself. 

So he gave up. 

Squeezing his eyes shut, he stopped struggling and sank into the ocean with Susanoo. 

And sank. 

And sank. 

Until his back finally hit the ocean floor and a weight settled over him. 

  
—

With a gasp, Rei opened his eyes. Taking in his surroundings, he realized he was in his coffin, with the lid off. The club room’s curtains were drawn. 

Sitting up, Rei wondered what he had been dreaming about to make his heart beat so fast. When he tried to remember, all that came to mind was a closed-lip smile.


End file.
